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Friday, June 29, 2012

I’m taking a bit of a break from my
usual art/craft activities, to work on my dancing granddaughter’s scrapbook.

This wonderful 11 year old is on
the competition dance team and is also an “A” student in the gifted program in
grade school. Her charm and grace make her grandparents very proud.

The competition team has performed
in several venues throughout central Florida
and received many awards for their outstanding dance numbers. Earlier this
month the dance school ended the season with a great recital, showing off all
the talent this school has to offer.

This first set of pages to be done
is from my granddaughter’s recital. I used my Cricut Gypsy to cut the words I
made with the Billionaire Cricut Lite Cartridge. I love how this font looks and
it is so easy to fuse the letters together into words. I chose not to overly embellish these pages, but to let the photos speak for themselves and my granddaughter's loveliness!

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Wow, I'm honored to have been selected by Sarah at (http://www.blissfulbucketlist.com/) Blissful Bucket List, for "The Sunshine Award." She has so much to look at and read on her blog, that you must spend some time visiting with her.

The Sunshine Award is
given from bloggers to bloggers. It’s for someone “who positively and
creatively inspires others in the blogosphere."

Okay, so here's how the award
works. First, you should thank the person who
gave you the award and link back to them. Next, answer the following questions
about yourself. Then, choose 10 of your favorite
bloggers and link their blogs to your post. Be sure to let them know that you
are nominating them for the award. Last, be sure to copy and paste the
award to your blog!

The
questions:

1. Favorite color- My favorite color just happens to be pink and today is National Pink Day!

2. Favorite animal- Our dog Moose is definitely a member of the family! 3. Favorite number- 7, I'm not sure why, but it comes to mind!

4. Favorite Drink- Strawberry banana smoothies! Yum...if I could I would have that everyday...boy would I be fat!

5. Facebook or Twitter- Facebook, but sometime Twitter too!

6. Good book or good movie- Good book..that is turned into a good movie!I loved reading Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code," the movie was good, but the book was better!

Friday, June 22, 2012

I recently stopped in at my favorite scrapbooking store, Gingham Buttons 2 at 5 Utility Dr. #21 in Palm Coast, Fl.. I finally bought the stamps, that I have been looking at for a few months. I love my Tombow Markers and wanted to try some new techniques with them. I bought a set of Art Impression stamps.

I couldn't wait to get home and try these quality stamps, which remind me of the watercolor painting I so enjoyed doing years ago. Using these stamps, I can create not just cards, but small pieces that look like art...so easily. I just knew that I had to
create a project with the stamps as they look so quaint! What I love is that they don't look stamped, and most people will think
you've been so clever and drawn these masterpieces
yourself. The individual stamps can create multiple scenes, giving good value to the original purchase. The many set and individual pieces work well together and the company puts out a DVD, books and pamphlets with step by step instructions. You can even watch the process on Utube. The picture above is my very first piece which I created into an attractive greeting card. Check out the additional cards I recently completed below! Although the technique calls for 140 lb. cold press paper, I used 90 lb. and it worked out fine. Next time I'll use the 140 lb. and see if it is a marked difference.

Saturday, June 16, 2012

I'm still working on the goodies that came in that box from Jo Ann's a couple of weeks ago. Now, I've made my first chrysanthemum!

I don't mind telling you it took a bit of trial and error working with these Cuttlebug Quilling kits. By keeping at it my flower backs are as nice and neat as the fronts.

What I used:
Cut card stock into 1" strips.
Run 1 green through the Cuttlebug for leaves, 1 yellow for flower center (cuts 4), 1 pale beige for small fringe (cuts 2) and 2 pink for larger fringe outer petals.

If you don't have the longer Cuttlebug plates, then use the older plates, placing the dies on a diagonal.

Cuttlebug plates from bottom up are: A,C, paper on die facing up (illustration side down and then the B plate.

Use only one straight center piece tightly rolled and glued at the end, on the tool. Next attach together the 2 smaller fringed strips...only at one end and then there to the center rolled piece. Roll this and glue at the end...repeat with the larger fringed pieces.

Push the rolled up flower down on a flat surface and spread the fringed petals by pressing them down.

Add two leaves from the back of the flower.

Take your time the these flowers are so worth getting it right...so cut!

Friday, June 8, 2012

I couldn't wait for my package from Jo-Ann's to arrive. They had a really nice sale and I couldn't pass up the free shipping. One of the items in the box was the Cuttlebug Quilling Kit to make a daisy.

Ever since, I got the Flower Shoppe Cricut cartridge and began using a quilling tool for the spiral cuts, I've been intrigued by the quilling techniques and looked for further applications in the things I enjoy creating.

One drawback is that it is recommended that you also purchase the new larger/longer plates to use with the kits. That’s quite an investment, but I finally couldn’t take it anymore and HAD to try the kit with my regular plates. In my opinion, it worked!

Using the sample flower as my guide, I picked cardstock and cut them the size to work with the dies provided.

Although the 4 long rectangular dies are longer than the original Cuttlebug plates, they do work when they are placed on a diagonal. I used 1 A plate, 1 C plate and 1 B plate in that order from bottom up.

I placed the piece of cardstock on top of the correct die. The illustration is faced down onto the C plate and the B plate covers the sandwich. After cutting each of the parts (2 for each of the 2 petal dies, I glued the beginning of the strip in a staggered formation each of the 2 petal strips together.

Now, I used the quilling pen and inserted the center strip into the gap in the pen and turned the pen. I kept the double strips together as I wrapped them. Next I add the smaller petal strip and then the larger petal, all in the same fashion. After gluing the end and pulling out the pen, I tapped the flower down on the table and spread the petals down and finally finished by gluing the leaves from the back. You can add the stems to make it a standing flower or not. These will certainly work well with any floral project you can create. These flowers can be made in realistic colors or in a fanciful array of prints.

There is a learning curve with these kits and I have gotten better as I have had some practice.

Here is a tutorial on the actual quilling technique, that I
found to be really helpful:

Friday, June 1, 2012

Aside from my passion for Graphic 45 paper collections, I've been collecting various music printed papers. These work so well as a backdrop for the various flower projects I enjoy creating.

One day while at my local scrapbook shop, I picked up several sheets of music papers. I didn't take the time to see what music titles they were. One was a shimmering white glitzy sheet...it turned out to be music for "Silent Night." After this discovery, I knew the only flowers to work on my canvas with this sheet was the poinsettia. I found a great video showing how to use the Cricut Flower Shoppe cartridge to make this flower. To make your own, go to:
Craftspotbykimberly.blogspot.com

The small bud at the top was made from the spiral cut flowers, so popular now and those leave were from the Flower Shoppe Cricut cartridge.

Xmas holiday is a bit early, but it's fun to get an idea and run with it!